SOMETHING SO FOOLISH

The Cross Stands in a Unique Light

by Eric Elkin

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

This past week, I listened to an episode of the Radiolab podcast. The show explored one way the FBI said the Russians tried to influence the 2016 presidential election. They did it by staging a flash mob outside a Cheesecake Factory in Florida. After listening to the show, I cannot believe how much time was spent on something so foolish.

The Russians recruited two males to pose as UCLA film students named, Joshua and Matt. They called three unwitting Americans to help them stage a pro-Trump rally. To entice support, Joshua and Matt said they were from a grassroots organization called, Being Patriotic. They said they secured funding from some Hollywood film producers to document their work. The group even developed an elaborate website to verify their authenticity.

Joshua and Matt recruited a woman named, Ann Marie, who was a real estate agent, an aspiring singer, and ardent Trump supporter. They wanted her to dress up and play Hillary Clinton. Then Ann Marie enticed her friend, Greg, to play Bill Clinton. Greg was not as enthusiastic of a participant but agreed to go along with it. He even decided to shave his beard, something he did for only the third time in his life. The third participant was a man named, Harry, who accepted the job of building a cage in the back of his pickup truck.

All three arrived at the Cheesecake Factory with no prior instructions, other than a prepared script. A crowd gathered to watch the two pawns play Bill and Hillary Clinton. They joked about women, emails, and other anti-Clinton slogans. Then they got the small crowd to chant, “Lock ’em up!” as the Bill and Hilary actors moved into the makeshift jail.

The Russians filmed the incident and quickly launched it onto social media sites. They even shared it with mainstream news outlets. It was used to show the spontaneous grassroots hatred of the Clintons. Except, it was all an elaborate propaganda effort by Russian operatives.

Personally, I find it mind-numbing how much time, effort, and human intelligence was spent to divide, attack and humiliate human beings. Human wisdom is used to divide nations and develop advanced weaponry. It inspires people to attack each other with angry words and fists. It is shameful how much time we spend using human wisdom to destroy life. Perhaps the cross, as an act of God’s unending love for all people, is not so foolish after all.